20 Years Of Royalty: Serena, Federer Return For Another Season
28th December 2018
In a mouthwatering prospect, Switzerland play the United States on January 1 with two of the greatest players ever facing each other in the mixed doubles
- Tennis royalty Roger Federer and Serena Williams have been pounding balls across the net for more than 20 years and they are back for yet another season
- Both 37 years old and with 43 Grand Slam singles titles between them, Federer is now a father and Williams a mother but tennis keeps calling, with neither showing any sign of quitting
- Williams returns to the country for the first time since her famous Australian Open win in 2017, when eight-weeks pregnant with baby Alexis Olympia
PERTH, Australia-
Tennis royalty Roger Federer and Serena Williams have been pounding balls
across the net for more than 20 years and they are back for yet another season,
starting in Perth at the mixed teams Hopman Cup from Saturday.
Both 37 years old and with 43 Grand Slam singles titles between
them, Federer is now a father and Williams a mother but tennis keeps calling,
with neither showing any sign of quitting.
Flying Federer leads Switzerland in defence of the Hopman
Cup title he won alongside Belinda Bencic earlier this year, with the pair
teaming up once again.
Williams returns to the country for the first time since her
famous Australian Open win in 2017, when eight-weeks pregnant with baby Alexis
Olympia.
She partners rising American star Frances Tiafoe in her
fifth visit to Western Australia.
In a mouthwatering prospect, Switzerland play the United
States on January 1 with two of the greatest players ever facing each other in
the mixed doubles.
Federer conceded it was a once-in-a-lifetime match-up and
one he was looking forward to.
"We'll probably play it down a little bit and say it's
not that big of a deal for us, it's just another tennis match, but it really
isn't because it's probably going to happen once and never again," he said
on Thursday.
The Swiss great has spent the off-season training hard ahead
of the defence of his Australian Open title and said he was happy with his
fitness.
"The last three or four weeks have been very intense.
I'm very excited and motivated for this next season."
The last two seasons the Swiss legend started in Perth, he
went on to win the opening Grand Slam of the year.
Racquet abuse
Williams played an exhibition against sister Venus in Abu
Dhabi this week, but Perth will be her first competitive event since her
meltdown in the US Open final this year.
She received a code violation for coaching, a penalty point
for racquet abuse and a game penalty for calling the umpire a "liar"
and a "thief" during her defeat by Naomi Osaka.
Federer later said Williams "went too far" and
should have walked away, adding an edge to their upcoming encounter.
Williams opted not to talk about the rant in Abu Dhabi,
instead preferring to look forward.
"My fitness, I feel like I'm pretty fit," she
said, adding that she was excited by another season as she primes to win an
eighth crown at Melbourne Park to match the record 24 Grand Slam titles held by
Margaret Court.
"I haven't played with Frances in mixed doubles before,
but have watched him from afar this year. He has a very bright future and I'm
looking forward to being on court with him, it will be a lot of fun," she
said.
Tiafoe, 20, is considered one of the world's most impressive
Next Gen stars.
He won his first singles title in February to become the
youngest American champion on tour since Andy Roddick in 2002 and hit a career
high ranking of 38 in August.
"I'm extremely nervous to play with Serena, a complete
legend," he admitted. "But I'm sure it'll be fine."
Germans Alexander Zverev and Angelique Kerber, the beaten
2018 finalists, form a formidable partnership in the way of Switzerland and the
United States.
Zverev had a breakout 2018 season and is now ranked world
number four, one behind Federer, while Kerber is world number two after winning
Wimbledon, where she beat Williams in the final.
Two-time Grand Slam champion Garbine Muguruza partners David
Ferrer for Spain while perennial favourites France are back with Lucas Pouille
and Alize Cornet.
Australia (Matt Ebdon/Ashleigh Barty), Greece (Stefanos
Tsitsipas/Maria Sakkari) and Britain (Cameron Norrie/Katie Boulter) make up the
field.